Uh Oh RIM, Apple Scored a Big One

Erika Morphy
, ContributorI write about how companies make money (or should be making money).Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

NEW YORK - AUGUST 03: The new Blackberry Torch 9800 smartphone is seen after being unveiled at a news conference August 3, 2010 in New York City. The new device by Blackberry maker Research in Motion features a touch-screen and slide-out keyboard along with new 6.0 software in the company's ongoing battle with Apple's iphone and other mobile devices. (Image credit: Getty Images North America via @daylife)

It’s not enough that Apple is cleaning Samsung’s clock in the courtroom and crowding uncomfortably close to Google in the consumer market: now it is making clear inroads on RIM’s territory—its one bright spot in what has been a crummy few years for the BlackBerry maker. I speak, of course, about RIM’s security bona fides, which has kept it, more or less, as the go-to mobile phone and services provider for government and businesses.

News released on Friday, though, could be the beginning of the end of that particular story line.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency plans to use the iPhone, dropping RIM in the process, according to solicitation documents spotted by Mashable on Friday. ICE plans to purchase iPhones for 17,676 users.

Apple has scored wins at other government agencies, but few are as security oriented as ICE. Among those 17,676 iPhone users will be Homeland Security investigators. Another agency ditching RIM to move to the iPhone is the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) started moving to the iPhone this year.

A Little of This, A Little of That

NOAA determined that it could put additional security controls on the iOS platform, make some tweaks to Google Apps for Government’s mobile settings and – voila -- that would be enough to secure the devices, according to Government Technology magazine.

Even government contractors are turning away from RIM. Around the same time the ICE deal was reported, news broke that Booz Allen Hamilton and its 25,000 staffers are dropping BlackBerry. It plans to move people to both the iPhone and Android, according to comments a spokesperson made to Bloomberg. And when Booz Allen is done with RIM, it appears it will really be done. Bloomberg says Booz Allen staffers who now bring their own BlackBerry to work won’t be able to access work e-mail on the device once the switch is complete.

Waiting for BlackBerry 10

None of this comes at a good time for RIM, which is waiting for BlackBerry 10 to change everything.

The company gave industry watchers a start in September, too, by actually delivering some good news—better than expected earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2013. It also scored 2 million new subscribers, to reach 80 million, over the three-month period—a fact that Chief Executive Thorsten Heins could not resist crowing about before the earnings were released, at BlackBerry Jam.